If you were a previous reader of this story, please start over, because the story is going to change. A lot.

Author's notes: Now here we are, nearly four years after the original chapters were posted of this story. I have decided to go back through and make the original chapters into one long section (just to compare the original story to the new one), and switch out the chapters one by one as I write them.

There are several differences between the new story and the original. First of all, I changed the idea that the story takes place in the 80's, just so the end of the end (seemingly present day) part of the story can take place whenever the reader wants it to. Second, I made all of the characters a year older, and I'm ignoring Sally's previous age (six years younger than Lucy and Charlie Brown, five years younger than Linus) so that tiny plot holes can be more understandable later on. Third, I'm making the entire story third person, instead of switching point of view every chapter or so.

I hope to get a chapter out every week, and I'm sorry for the three-year-break between an update. Understand the fact that I began writing this as a twelve-year-old just finishing her first year of middle school, and now I'm four years older, in high school, and have taken several writing classes. Many reviewers used to wish the chapters had more detail, and I intend to give this to them.

So here is the original story, and I intend to get the first chapter of the newly edited version soon.

Thanks!

-Marty :-D

CHAPTER ONE (Third person prologue)

July 12, 1982

Thirteen-year-old Lucille Rose Van Pelt woke up like every morning in the summer. Her radio/alarm clock woke her up at 6:00 AM. She got up to take a shower.

Lucy had two younger brothers, Linus and Rerun. Rerun was Lucy's five-year-old brother, and he had lost his two front teeth one week before. When he wanted to say an "S" he whistled. Linus was twelve, and liked to suck his thumb and carry around a flannel blanket.

An impatient Rerun yelled, well, whistled, "Hurry up Lucy!"

Five minutes later, Linus screamed the same thing.

"Honestly," she yelled back, "there is no way a person can get a shower in five minutes!"

Little did she know, Rerun was in the laundry room. He switched off the hot water. Suddenly, screams could be heard throughout the house. Lucy finished her shower, got dressed, and came downstairs.

"Alright," she started as she poured some cereal into a bowl, "which one of you turned off the hot water? I'm going to slug who ever did!"

Rerun started to shake. Linus didn't know if he should burst out laughing or stand up for his brother. Lucy was absolutely furious, and she looked like she was going to slug them both.

"Lucy, you got in at six. It is now six thirty. You were in there for a half hour."

"Well... It, um... takes me awhile to do my hair!"

Lucy cleared the dishes and went up to her room.

Lucy glanced at her clock. It was 9:00. She decided to go listen to Schroeder play the piano. She still had a crush on him, after all those years. She no longer leaned on his toy piano, because he had gotten a real one for his tenth birthday. She usually sat down on the edge of his piano bench, discussing marriage, what her Aunt Marian would say about love, or some variation of that theme. Schroeder usually ignored her.

On this particular day, Lucy was talking again about how Schroeder probably loved her and didn't know it yet. But for once, he was paying attention. He stopped playing the piano.

"How," he started, "could anyone ever love you? You're crabby, mean, vain, and annoying. Ever since we were little, you've been hanging around my piano, talking about love. Why don't you just admit to yourself that I don't, and never will love you? No one could ever love you."

His words sunk into her slowly at first. She just stared at him for a moment, and thought. Was she really crabby, mean, and everything else he had said about her? Yes, she was. She tried to blink back tears. She stood up and left.

she walked in the house, Rerun suddenly got very pale. Her mother called her to the kitchen.

Thinking Lucy was out of earshot, Linus talked to Rerun.

"Don't worry, Rerun. If she brings up what happened this morning, I'll stand up for you."

He should have stopped there, but he didn't.

"Honestly, sometimes I think she's the worst sister in the world."

There was a crash in the kitchen, as Lucy dropped one of the plates. She had heard him. She apologized to her mother and cleaned up the mess. She stated that she wasn't hungry anymore and ran up to her room.

Lucy sighed. She got out a notebook and copied down everything Schroeder had said about her, and at the bottom she added 'worst sister in the world' she put an X next to everything that was true.

mean X

crabby X

vain X

annoying X

worst sister in the world X

They were all true, and Lucy knew it. She buried her head in her pillow and cried.

At 4:00, Lucy wiped away her tears. She had an appointment with Charlie Brown at her psychiatrist booth. Charlie Brown had lived next door to Lucy for as long as she could remember. He was very hard to understand. He was always realistic about everything, yet unrealistic at the same time. He was always depressed about something. As much as she wanted to cry all day long (she already had for three hours), Lucy knew she had to go.

They got to the booth at roughly the same time. As Lucy switched her sign from 'the doctor is out' to 'the doctor is in.' Charlie Brown started telling her his problems, and he had a lot of them, at least in his mind.

"I've decided to quit playing baseball."

This came as a shock to Lucy, who nearly fell out of her chair.

"Quit baseball? You? GOOD GRIEF! You love baseball, and you've been playing since we were five! Why on earth do you want to quit?"

"True," he replied. "I've been playing for eight years. But I'm not good. The rest of my team is, though- for the exception of my right fielder."

Lucy blushed. She played right field on the baseball team he managed. Not that she was any good at it.

"Your right fielder loves to annoy you. She also loves to joke around."

"Yeah. So what you're saying is..."

"That you should keep playing. Try to remember all the times you've hit a homerun."

"Um, Lucy, I've only hit a homerun twice. That's not a lot."

"So? Try to remember that you've done it. You one those games for us, and we were, and still are, proud of you. You try your hardest out there, and that's all that counts. So take my advice, and don't quit playing baseball."

There was silence.

"What," said a shocked Charlie Brown, "No comment that I'm still a blockhead and won't ever win a game again? Lucy, what's wrong?"

"N-n-n-nothing! Nothing's wrong! I've got to go," Lucy replied as she stood up. She started to run home.

"Lucy, wait! Aren't you forgetting something?"

She looked confused.

"This! And you earned it. That's the first time you've ever actually given me good advice. See ya," he said as he handed her a nickel.

"Um, yeah," she replied.

Lucy ran home, said that she wasn't hungry for dinner, and went to her room. She pulled out her notebook again, and added two things to her list, which, once again, were true.

mean X

crabby X

vain X

annoying X

worst sister in the world X

terrible baseball player X

gives bad advice X

She sighed, and then flopped on her bed and cried herself to sleep.

Charlie Brown was worried about Lucy. Something was weird about her that evening.

It was her eyes. They were bright green, unlike their usual brown or hazel. That was the weird thing about Lucy's eyes. It was like they couldn't decide whether they wanted to be brown or hazel. "But tonight," he said to his human-like dog, Snoopy, "they were green. They've never been blue like Linus or Rerun's are, always brown or hazel! But never green."

His dog ran to his doghouse and came back dressed as a detective.

"Oh, good grief! I might as well call Linus and see what's wrong."

He dialed the number. Linus answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, it's Charlie Brown. Listen, I'm worried about Lucy."

"I am too," said Linus. And he was, though he had no clue that he was partially the cause of her misery.

"She was weird today at my appointment at her psychiatrist booth. First, she gave me good advice. Second, she insisted that nothing was wrong, which had to be a lie. Third, she looked like she was about to cry. And then there were her eyes... They were green. Not hazel, not brown. Green. That's weird. Did anything happen today?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact," said Linus, in a worried tone. He told his friend about that morning. "But I doubt that would make her that upset! And I noticed she was acting weird, too. After breakfast this morning, she went to Schroeder's. When she came home for lunch, mom called her into the kitchen. And then she dropped a plate by accident. Then she said she wasn't hungry. She went to her room then, and the last time I talked to her she wasn't hungry. She's been in her room ever since."

"Wow. Why don't you go up to her room and talk to her? I'll talk to her tomorrow. She may usually be a pain, but I'm still worried about her. Something's definitely not right. See you tomorrow."

Charlie Brown hung up the phone and sighed.

"Well, Snoopy," he started, "looks like I'm the psychiatrist now and Lucy's the patient."

Linus went to Lucy's room, only to find that Lucy was fast asleep, still in the clothing she had been wearing that day.

He walked over to her desk and left a note.

Lucy-

What's a matter? You were acting strange today. Charlie Brown noticed it, too. We're really worried about you. If you ever need to talk to anyone, I'm always here.

- Linus

CHAPTER TWO (Lucy's POV)

When I look back on that day, I actually feel happy. To think that I was so down that day, and that actually it was one of the best days of my life. But before I get ahead of myself, let me start that morning. First, I was in the shower and Rerun (He was five, and going to be in first grade this year. His birthday is in the beginning of August.) turned off the hot water. Then, I went over to Schroeder's to talk to him and listen to him play piano.

He told me that I was mean, crabby, vain, and annoying. It finally sunk in when he said that no one could ever love me. When I got home for lunch, I heard Linus (he was twelve, a year younger than I was) say that I was the worst sister in the world. Then, when I was working in the kitchen with Mom, I dropped a plate.

Later on, I had an appointment with Charlie Brown. He actually said that he wanted to quit baseball. Yeah, like he'd do that. So what did I do? I actually gave him good advice. I told them that he should keep playing and that his right fielder (namely, me) loves to make him mad. Which is the absolute truth.

I made a list when I got home that looked like this:

mean X

crabby X

vain X

annoying X

worst sister in the world X

terrible baseball player X

gives bad advice X

I put an X next everything that was true. They all were. I didn't know who to talk to, or where to go. I just pretty much hated myself at that point. Why was I so mean to everyone? I honestly wanted to change. But I didn't know how.

The next day, I realized something after I found Linus's note. Charlie Brown cared. But I couldn't understand why. I mean, I had always treated him like he was Linus or Rerun.

You see, he was like an older brother to me when we were little. He's older than me- his birthday's on October 30, 1968, and mine is on July 3, 1969. He was in the same grade as me (eighth) because of that "you must be five by the first day of kindergarten" rule. The sad thing is, Linus's birthday is October 17, 1970,and he was also in eighth grade like Charlie Brown and me (he skipped fourth grade).

Anyway, Charlie Brown He taught me how to walk, talk, go down a slide, and ride a bike. And I listened to every word he said to me.

But what happened? We got older, I guess. And soon I had Linus, then Rerun. And Charlie Brown had Sally, who's seven and was going to be in third grade that year (after her birthday the next week). Sally had a crush on Linus. She called him her 'sweet babboo' Of course, he wanted no part of that (even though I KNEW he liked her). She wanted to be a nurse when she grew up because "she likes white shoes."

So I really couldn't understand why he cared. But he did. The wheels started turning in my head. Could I talk to him about all of this? No I couldn't. The guy couldn't understand girls. He had that stupid crush on that girl with the red hair (I never could remember her name). But he was always nice. So I decided once and for all to go talk to him, before I could convince myself not to.

CHAPTER THREE (Charlie Brown's POV)

I was worried about Lucy. I mean, she gave me good advice, didn't make one sarcastic remark, and to top it off, her eyes were green. Green. She usually has brown or hazel eyes, but not green. I knew something had to be wrong. That's why I was surprised the next day when Lucy rang my doorbell.

"Lucy! I need to talk to you for a sec," I said as we walked to that old brick wall we always go to. "I'm worried about you. You've been acting-"

"Strange? Yep, I know," she said.

She started talking. I felt so bad for her- and so angry with Schroeder. I was even a little mad at Linus. She started crying. Was Lucy- Lucy Van Pelt- crying? She had so much on her mind. I never thought Lucy would ever feel like that.

"I never knew you felt that way. YOU of all people," I said. "I'm sorry I didn't see it before. Do you want me to tell Schroeder and Linus about this?"

"Sure, I guess."

" I KNEW something was wrong yesterday. And don't worry about being mean to me," I said with a smirk, "I'm used to it. And I'm sure they are too."

It was true. She gave me a huge hug-which was surprising."Thanks. For everything."

"Anytime," I said.

We went back to the Van Pelt's house. Lucy went up to her room while I spoke with Linus. I'm not sure what she was doing, but it looked like she was reading a book about curly hair. Then we went upstairs to talk to Lucy. We sat on her bed. Linus was crying the entire time. I haven't seen him that upset in ages.

"L-L-Lucy? I-I'm s-sorry. I d-didn't know you felt like that," he sobbed.

"Join the club," I said.

"It's okay Linus. I always thought people were exaggerating when they said I was mean and stuff. But when I actually listened to myself, I realized they weren't," she replied.

She leaned over and gave Linus a hug.

"I was wrong," he said. "You're a great sister, Lucy."

"And a great friend," I added.

Somehow, I'm not sure she believed that.

CHAPTER FOUR (Lucy's POV)

Lucy

Everything was so strange after that day. Everyone was mad at Schroeder, and for once, everyone wasn't not mad at me!

After our little "talk," Linus and Charlie Brown went over to Schroeder's house to talk. Well, it didn't turn out very well. Linus marched up to my room (Charlie Brown went home) looking a little red around the edges. Apparently, Schroeder said I deserved every single one of his insults. I agreed with him there.

He didn't stop there. He went on and on, saying I was a terrible person, blah blah blah. I was so used to it that I didn't care. The amazing thing is that Charlie Brown threatened to kick Schroeder off the baseball team. And to think he was about to quit playing just two days before!

He kicked me off the team once... But I was armed with a pen and a notebook, and he finally put me back on the team. No, I didn't whack him on the head with it (although, at the time I really wanted to). I'm on the school paper, and I wrote a pretty nasty article about him. Ha, ha. Of course, that was five years ago, when we were eight. Now I NEVER would have done that.

So much happened when we were eight... Charlie Brown was in the hospital for a week (He was REALLY sick, and I got all scared. I promised not to pull away that stupid football if he got better, which he did. He ended up kicking my arm by accident and breaking it. I've never seen him so apologetic), Rerun was born, I started taking piano lessons (I did for years. Of course Schroeder didn't know that. He thought I quit when we were nine, which is what I told him. I wasn't a big fan of classics like he is. I preferred slow, modern songs. I actually was pretty good at it)... the list goes on and on.

When I thought about how much we've been through, I thought my life is great. I honestly felt sorry that everyone had to put up with me for all those years.

So everyone was furious at Schroeder (word got around to everyone fast). I felt sorry for him, which is weird. But I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT have a crush on him any more, and I doubted I ever would again.

CHAPTER FIVE (Frieda's POV)

Frieda

I went to the library that morning, and who was there? Lucy. We used to be best friends a few years before, but Lucy was just too mean. I got closer to the infamous "Gossipers,"

Yep, I was friends Patty (not Peppermint Patty, who's best friends with Marcie. "Smarty Pants Marcie," we called her. She was always such a know-it-all.) and Violet. They started most of the rumors at school. They'd find out a secret and then- POOF! By the next day, it was all over the school.

We both played on Charlie Brown's baseball team, although we never really talked that much.

I always used to brag about my "naturally curly hair." Lucy's hair became naturally curly too, when she was about ten. She has a different kind. She has what are known as "botticelli" curls, and I have what are known as "corkscrew" curls. She has little ringlets, and I have itty-bitty corkscrew curls.

The only problem was, Patty and Violet got to be just as mean as Lucy was. They told me I was "too independent" or something like that. Anyway, I was stuck sitting alone. That was at the middle of seventh grade, and we ditched Lucy at the end of fifth.

Everyone heard about Lucy and Schroeder's little "war," and the "Gossipers" had a field day. It was like those stupid supermarket tabloids- they never get anything right. So when I saw Lucy in the library, I wanted to find out the truth. Also, I was in denial of a friend, and Lucy looked like a prime candidate.

I walked up to her table. She was reading my favorite book- The Care and Keeping of Curls.

"Hey, Luce. What's up?" I said.

"Not much..." She said uneasily.

"That's not what I hear. Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to sleep over on Friday."

"O.K... I guess that would be nice."

"It's settled then! Come over at, um, five."

I was kind of nervous. What if she hated me for ditching her?

Friday night began like all of our sleepovers from the years before. We ate pizza in my room, we listened to the soundtracks from the latest movies, and we watched MTV. Your basic teenage sleepover. At about nine, we crawled into our sleeping bags and started talking. About boys, makeup, boys, fashion, boys, and music.

I asked her about what happened between her and Schroeder. Suddenly she got this angry look in her eyes.

"So that's why you invited me over! So you could find out the truth and then gossip about it with your little friends! And I thought you actually wanted to be friends with me again!" she said.

"No, Lucy, that's not it! You don't understand! I stopped being friends with Patty and Violet last year. In case you haven't noticed, I've been sitting by my self at lunch for the past year. I just wanted to find out the truth so I could help you, that's all. I want to be friends with you again Lucy. Best friends, like we used to be."

"Oh, and I thought that... Sorry, I still need to work on that temper."

She told me about what had happened. It was completely different from the rumors.

"Wow," I said when she was done. "Do I smell romance?"

"Wh-what? Between who and who?"

"Between you and Charlie Brown, silly!"

"Are you saying that I have a crush on Charlie Brown?"

"Yep."

"Well... I... um..." She was speechless. "How could I like him?"

"Well, the shape of his head doesn't matter. He's got that cool light blond hair, those tie-dye blue eyes... And to top it off, he's so sweet! Yeah. He's officially on all of the girls at school's "Cute" list."

"I guess he's nice..."

"And you actually have a chance with him- something the rest of us don't."

"I do?"

"Yeah. He's your brother's best friend. You have a great chance with him."

"O.K., you're right. I can't believe I have a crush on him!"

"You are officially the last girl at school to say that. So, are we friends again?" I asked.

"Best friends," Lucy replied.

It felt good to have a best friend again.

CHAPTER SIX (Schroeder's POV)

If you asked me when I was thirteen to define Lucy Van Pelt for you in three words, I would have said annoying, vain, and nasty. That's why I couldn't believe it when Charlie Brown threatened to kick me off the baseball team if I didn't apologize to Lucy. I mean, she was absolutely terrible to him. She treated him like dirt. I couldn't stand her. I mean, sure, it was nice to have someone listen to me play the piano, but Lucy was always more interested in me then the music. Or so I thought.

After I blew up at her that one day, everyone sort of "shunned" me. People who once were my best friends were turning against me. Charlie Brown was furious at me. Linus was definitely out of the question. I mean, he was her brother; of course he'd take her side. I've never seen Linus stand up for Lucy like that before. Franklin was closer to Charlie Brown. Pig Pen was a geek. So who did that leave me with? No one. Until the Saturday after I yelled at Lucy.

She walked into the room as if nothing had happened, sat down on the edge of the bench, and said nothing.

I was the one to break the silence.

"I'm not going to apologize to you, if that's why you're here," I said.

"Actually," Lucy started, "I'm here to say sorry to you. I'm sorry. Everything you said last week was absolutely true. All of it. Schroeder, I've changed. I'm not that silly little girl anymore. Not, "Lucy the Fussbudget," or "Lucy the Annoying." Nope, not any more. I'm just Lucy. Lucy Van Pelt. I want to thank you. You helped me grow up, Schroeder. I want us to be friends, Schroeder. Just friends, nothing more. I don't have a crush on you anymore."

"Alleluia," I said.

She laughed. A quiet, sweet little laugh.

"Scoot over. I want you to hear something," she said.

I scooted over. All of a sudden, Lucy started playing a slow, pretty song on the piano. It wasn't Beethoven, but it was lovely.

"When did you learn to play the piano?" I asked her.

"I started when we were eight, remember? I told you I quit. I have no idea why. I'm not a huge fan of playing classics like you do," she said. "I like sweet, slow songs. Oh, and I like to play pop, jazz, and rock, too."

I knew that from that day forward, Lucy and I would be friends. Nothing more. And I was O.K. with that.

CHAPTER SEVEN (Charlie Brown's POV)

Later that Saturday afternoon, I decided to again go and try to convince Schroeder to apologize to Lucy. I didn't know that they made up, so the purpose was basically wasted.

Lucy apparently had left a short time before, and Schroeder was still pondering about it. Something had happened.

As I pulled up a chair, he told me the entire story. I was so happy. I couldn't stand not talking to people.

"So, it was like a different person walked in. She was a Lucy interested in music, despite it being a different type than I usually play. I think we are starting to have a lot in common. I swear, when we go back to school, she's going to be one of the most popular girls in school," he said.

"Wait a sec," I replied, "Are you saying that you are actually starting to like Lucy?"

"Yes. Wait! Not that way! I bet that if anyone would like like her it would be you."

"Me?"

"Yeah! You two have more of the same personality now."

"How can you say that? You've only known her to be like this for under a day!"

"But I just know. I just know…"

Our conversation about Lucy stopped there. It turned towards baseball, but I wasn't interested in talking about the different kinds of signals we would use that year. Did I like Lucy- like like her? Yes, I did. And I would have to face it.

CHAPTER EIGHT (Linus's POV)

was glad Lucy made up with Frieda. She needed a friend to understand her. I was also glad everyone was friends with Schroeder again. I hated it when the gang fought.

The next day was Sunday, and we had church as usual. After mass, we went to the cafeteria to get donuts. We sat with the Browns, so I could talk to Charlie Brown. Lucy sat down with her chocolate iced donut as usual. She looked a little pale, though. Charlie Brown and I started up a conversation about baseball while we ate our donuts.

After she finished her donut, Lucy said, "I have to go home so I can finish my homework."

"Um, Lucy," I said, "It's the middle of summer. We don't have school." She turned bright red.

"Well… I, um… I-I need to finish my summer reading list," she said uncomfortably.

As soon as she left the room, Charlie Brown and I burst out laughing.

"She's lying," I said. "She bragged to me the last day of June how she finished the reading list before me!"

"Uh huh. She said that to me, too. Actually, I'm glad she reminded me. I didn't even start it yet!" he said.

I rolled my eyes. Good Old Charlie Brown.

When I got home, I went right up to Lucy's room. She was reading a book, but it wasn't on our summer reading list.

"Where's your homework?" I asked her.

"Okay. I lied. But I'm not telling you anything about it." She answered back.

The rest of the summer flew by. As I once told Charlie Brown, "Summers fly, winters walk." School started, and we were in eighth grade. But throughout this time, I wondered what Lucy was hiding. She was so hard to figure out. I mean, she had changed so much over the past few months that it was like she was a different person, and I was meeting her for the first time.

She was avoiding Charlie Brown like the plague, and he seemed to be doing the same thing of her.

"I guess I'm just nervous that she'll change back," he said once, but I thought there was something more.

Lucy and Charlie Brown were hiding something, and I wanted to find out what it was. Mistake.

I was like a spy- following them around, eavesdropping. Things I normally never would have done. But I was worried- both my sister and my best friend were hiding things from me, and I didn't like it.

One day, I happened to follow Charlie Brown to a psychiatric appointment. They were very rare those days. Lucy no longer charged for her advice- a sign reading "Free" was nailed over the 5 cents.

I hid behind a bush as I watched them.

"Well, what I mean is, if two people (a boy and a girl, that is) are friends, can't that friendship grow to be… Well, you know what I mean," said Charlie Brown.

"No, I don't," Lucy said, but I got the feeling she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Well, if a girl and a boy like each other enough to be friends, can't they like each other a little bit more, and well…"

"I still don't understand."

"What I'm tying to say is, if a boy and a girl are friends, can't they sort of build that friendship into… well, into… into…"

"Love?" she said it hesitantly.

"Yeah, that's it!"

She bit her lip. I used to be able to tell what she was thinking, but this… This would take some time.

Who did Charlie Brown like (other than that girl with the red hair, who at the time was living in a different state), and why did Lucy seem so disappointed?

Suddenly, it hit me. My best friend, Charlie Brown, and my older sister, Lucy, were in love.

Love. They're in love. The words rolled around my head until I couldn't take it anymore. I got up from behind the bush, not caring if they saw, and started running to a place where I could think.

CHAPTER NINE (Still Linus's POV)

I ran for a few minutes; for how long I'm not sure. I stopped at a tree near the church wear the gang goes. Suddenly, it started raining.

"Good grief! What is this world coming to?" I inquired to no one.

"I'm not sure," a soft voice said. I was surprised to see Lucy walking calmly over to me. She was kneeled on the ground next to me. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," I said. "It's nothing."

"I know you well enough to know that it's never nothing." Lucy whispered.

"I think I should keep it to myself, that's all." I replied.

Ha! That was the exact opposite of how I really felt. What I really wanted to do was scream "You love him! How could you love him?" But I kept my mouth shut, which wasn't an easy thing to do. I didn't even know why I was mad about it. I guess it was because the stupid social ladder came into my head at first. I mean, it was freaky-guy-turned-popular in love with popular-girl-turned-freak.

Yes, Charlie Brown was popular. All the girls looked beyond his terrible baseball skills, weird shaped head, and negative disposition and into his sweet nature, blue eyes, and kindness. But he didn't like the attention. And Lucy, who was once the most popular girl in school, had been ditched by her friends because she was too headstrong and full of herself. So, before her reformation, our usual lunch group was Schroeder, Charlie Brown, Lucy (she had no where else to sit) and me. Lucy was always silent at lunch- she didn't want to be seen with her brother. Now that she had changed, Frieda had joined our group. They yapped the entire way through lunch, and we guys had our own side-conversations. Our paths almost never crossed.

No, I told myself, that wasn't the reason I was mad. It was because Charlie Brown had found true love before I did. It was totally unexpected; we thought he would be the last in our group to find love. But he was actually the first. And I didn't count his little sister Sally, who was still madly in love with me at the time. Those feelings wouldn't be returned until much later.

Suddenly, a soft soprano voice interrupted my thinking.

"Go 'way from my window

Go 'way from my door

Go 'way 'way 'way from my bedside

And bother me no more

Bother me

No more," Lucy sang.

I hadn't heard that song in almost ten years. The time before that was when we were little and I had a bad day. Of course, that was before kindergarten, when Lucy became stuck-up. But she sang that to me to let me know that she cared, and to not let my problems bother me. And now she was singing it again.

I put faith in my sister that day, and I knew I would have to repay her for it. But how?

Suddenly, I knew. It would solve all of her problems.

But make mine worse.

CHAPTER TEN (Frieda's POV)

I shoveled more popcorn into my mouth as I watched the music video for "Don't Talk to Strangers" by Rick Springfield. God, he was so hot… I started to talk to Rick… or rather, the television.

"I won't Rick! I'm right here! I love you so freaking much! You hear that? So freakin'-"

My daydreaming was interrupted by the phone ringing. After it rang three times, I finally answered it?

"Hello? Who is this inconsiderate person that is talking to me WHEN RICK SPRINGFIELD IS ONTV?" I hollered into the phone.

"Someone needs to go to manners school!" Linus said on the on the other end.

"Dude- you are calling me for what reason exactly?" I said.

"Um… it's a long story…" he replied.

"Well, at least wait until the video is over! Hold on." I laid down the phone, climbed on my bed, started jumping, and sang at the top of my lungs.

"Don't talk to strangers

Baby, dontcha talk

Don't talk to strangers

You know he'll only use

Don't talk, don't talk

Oh, don't talk

Don't talk, don't talk to him!"

The video was over. I collapsed back onto my bed and grabbed the phone.

"Hello?" I said.

"You done with that? 'Cause, seriously, I get enough of that from Lucy, and-"

"I get the point, Linus. So, why'd you call?"

"Yep, I was right, you so need to go to Manners School!"

"Ha ha."

"Anyways, it's uh… complicated."

"And your point is? I've got plenty of time, now that the video's over," I said.

He told me the entire story of what happened the day before.

"You know," I replied, "you are officially the last person to figure that out. Everyone has known that Lucy and Charlie Brown are perfect for each other since-"

"All right I get it!" Linus interrupted. "You had better shut up or so help me Frieda, I'll-"

"Ooh… Look who the impolite one is now!" I teased.

It was fun teasing Linus- he never could think of any good comebacks.

"So… the question (which, might I add, I have now asked you three times) still isn't answered. FOR THE LAST FREAKING TIME, WHY THE HECK DID YOU CALL?" I screamed.

"I was hoping," Linus said, "that you could help me get them together. Kind of a matchmaker type thing."

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because you're Lucy's best friend and know her better than she probably knows herself. So, will you do it?"

"Sure. This could be interesting," I said with a smirk on my face.

"Excellent," Linus replied. "So, when can we get together and plan?"

"My house in five minutes. Be there or be square." I hung up the phone.

I just knew what Linus was thinking: How could Lucy be friends with that inconsiderate freak of nature?

The Van Pelts only lived a block away, so it took about two minutes to get to my house. But I knew that Linus probably waited five minutes before he even left the house.

He rang the doorbell.

"You're late," I said with a frown.

"You know, you really have a way with greeting people," he said as he closed the door.

Author's Notes: So, that's as far as I got in middle school. It sucks. I'll leave it there… But the revised first chapter will be up soon.